Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government said yes to two new oil pipelines. Oddly enough, that was right before a reception on the Hill organized by pipeline lobbyists. The champagne must have been flowing after that announcement.

The Prime Minister says that these two pipelines will help us fight climate change. How can he say that expanding oil sands development is part of the transition to green energy? How can he say that this is for his children and future generations? How can he say that by polluting more, we will pollute less? His jaw-droppingly flawed logic is making us look bad to the rest of the world.

Climate change will not spare environmentally responsible nations, so all of Canada's international allies will pay for this country's irresponsibility.

Once again, Canada is making it clear that Quebec's future in terms of energy, the economy, and diplomacy depends on its independence.

Mr. Speaker, as a member from a rural Nova Scotia riding, I commend the government for its focus on rural communities. From investments in water to sewers, ice rinks, arts, broadband Internet, and immigration, this government understands that rural communities matter.

However, it is very disappointing that in recent months, officials at the Department of National Defence in Halifax and RCMP officials in Halifax have proposed closing facilities in my rural riding and moving their resources to Halifax. It is my hope that the government's leadership will send a clear message to every department and every official that all departments and agencies should support rural Canada and maintain their rural presence.

Mr. Speaker, at the Vanier Cup last Saturday, the Rouge et Or shone like gold. In a very hard-fought game, the Laval University football team came out on top by a score of 31-26.

Under the skilful leadership of Constantin, Ethier, Fortier, Brennan, and Bertrand, the Rouge et Or student athletes overcame adversity and rallied past the determined Dinos to capture their ninth Vanier Cup, a national record.

In true Laval style, all our athletes gave 100% to contribute to the victory. From the starting lineup to the substitute players, everyone played a part. No wonder their motto is “strength, work and pride”. No one individual is more important than the team.

I salute Hugo Richard, the quarterback and player of the game, for his incredible performance, Cédric Lussier-Roy, the top defensive player, and Raphaël Robidoux-Bouchard for blocking a key punt at the end of the game.

Mr. Speaker, today I honour the great work of the Famous People Players in my riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore. Famous People Players' glow-in-the-dark Dine & Dream Theatre has been entertaining audiences around the world, across Asia, in the U.S., on TV, and in my riding since 1974.

On top of its artistic excellence and use of black-light puppetry, what makes Famous People Players even more spectacular is that this non-profit organization employs people with physical and intellectual disabilities. With duties in dining room management, arts administration, and theatrical and visual arts performance, these actors and artists keep the theatre alive.

I would like to congratulate Diane Dupuy, who founded the theatre over 42 years ago, and her 100-year-old mother, Mary Thornton, who have been instrumental in the success of the FPP. I also commend their supporters, including luminaries such as Liberace, who discovered them, Lorne Greene, Paul Newman, and most recently, Scotiabank. This is definitely a place “where special happens”.

Mr. Speaker, about a year ago, the Prime Minister was still a candidate, and he came to my community and made promises. British Columbians took him at his word that he would create new environmental assessments and a new relationship with first nations. Yesterday he and his government broke those promises. They broke that trust.

They broke trust with the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, whose territories will now be criss-crossed by seven times as many large oil tankers.

They broke trust with every British Columbian when he promised a world-class spill response. Instead, we now see what a single leaking tug can do to devastate an entire community, and now they would drive a supertanker through the Salish Sea every day, a seven-fold increase in traffic.

My community will not gamble with its coastline and its economy. My community remembers what it was promised by the government. The Prime Minister may have walked away from his commitments, but the people of Victoria will stand together to fight for a clean and sustainable future for us all.

Mr. Speaker, Hockey Canada is the governing body for grassroots hockey throughout the country. It oversees programs from entry-level competition to the world championships and the Olympic winter games.

Recently, Hockey Canada held its annual meeting and re-elected Sudbury's very own Joe Drago as chair. Joe is a life member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League, a recipient of the Sudbury Community Builders Award, and a leading member of the Greater Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame, but Joe's contribution to our community goes well beyond hockey.

He's been a member of the board of our local hospital and hospital foundation for nearly 30 years, a member of the Salvation Army advisory board, of the Alzheimer Society, and of the House of Kin, an organization that provides housing to out-of-town families travelling to Sudbury for cancer treatment.

I thank Joe for his hard work in support of our favourite sport and for everything he does. Joe makes Sudbury proud.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to honour and pay tribute to the life and service of Surrey firefighter Ryan Hammerer. On November 21, Ryan was on his way to work when he was in a motor vehicle accident that tragically took his life. He was just 44 years old.

Since 2001, Ryan has been a dedicated and invaluable member of the Surrey Fire Service, serving our community for the last 15 years. His colleagues knew him as a deeply caring person and a dedicated member of the fire service and his community. He was known for his volunteer work, donating numerous hours to the Surrey Fire Fighters' Charitable Society and taking a leadership role within the British Columbia Professional Fire Fighters Association.

I would like to send my heartfelt prayers and deepest condolences to Ryan's family, friends, and fellow fire personnel. He leaves behind his wife Tiffinie, his son Cole, and his daughter Mataya.

Ryan's dedication and service to our community cannot be overstated. His presence will be deeply missed by all.

Mr. Speaker, Italian Canadians have contributed much to the building and betterment of Canada, and on behalf of all Canadians, I thank the community for all it has done and continues to do.

Specifically, I would like to pay tribute to Angelo and Grace Locilento, who for decades have led by example and worked to put others first. As Canada prepares to celebrate our 150th, it is people like Angelo and Grace who set the standard for good citizenship and community building.

From Opera York and the Basilicata Cultural Society to the Italian Chamber of Commerce, the Lucania Social Club, and the Vitanova Foundation, many organizations owe their success to Angelo and Grace.

Most recently, Angelo was recognized with the volunteer service commendation for his generosity. For that and much more, I offer my personal thanks.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Jeffrey Perreault, co-founder of the Adaptive Canuck ALS Foundation and an ALS patient. Diagnosed in 2014, at the age of 32, Jeff became the first ALS patient in the world to walk in a lower body exoskeleton suit. He took 51 steps, the first steps he had taken in over a year without a walker. These steps mark only the beginning of Jeff's important journey. Health permitting, in January, Jeff will be kicking off a national bionic walking tour.

His message to promote the advancement of ALS research is powerful and inspiring.

I ask that all members recognize Jeff's strength, determination, and courage. We wish Jeff and thousands of ALS patients a cure for ALS.

Mr. Speaker, we welcome Bill Waiser from Saskatoon—Grasswood to Ottawa to accept his first Governor General's Literary Award, for A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905.

This book is a great history lesson featuring Canada's first people and first explorers and the formidable backdrop of Saskatchewan's climate, landscape, and people. The book is a fascinating look into the formation of our great province and the significance of trading and the relationship with our first people in a pre-Confederation Saskatchewan.

Bill Waiser has published over a dozen works and continues to be one of the top historians in our province, if not our country, but today Bill Waiser will celebrate at the Governor General's Awards for his work, A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905.

Mr. Speaker, December is just around the corner, and it is the last month of a year in which we accomplished a great deal for our country and our constituents. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful people of my riding of Marc-Aurèle-Fortin for putting their trust in me.

I would also like to wish them all the best for the upcoming holiday season. I hope that the people of Laval, Quebec, and all across the country take the time to express their gratitude by getting involved with local charities.

I will be leading by example on December 20 when I join the volunteers at Moisson Laval to distribute the traditional Christmas hampers.

As this year draws to a close, I wish everyone peace, prosperity, and good health.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand today in the House and recognize the important work of Refugee705, a non-partisan group in my riding of Sault Ste. Marie that helps connect citizens with local refugee sponsorship initiatives.

I am pleased that the federal Sault Ste. Marie Liberal Association will be partnering up with Refugee705 this holiday season. On December 9, our local refugees in Sault Ste. Marie are invited to take part in a holiday tradition that will include a city bus ride tour of the entire city to look at the beautiful holiday lights. Following this outing, hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies will be served, as no holiday tradition is truly complete without holiday treats.

I encourage my colleagues here today and indeed all residents of all communities to partake in the various upcoming holiday traditions across Canada and to embrace the warmth, generosity, and open-heartedness that characterizes this season and this great nation.

Mr. Speaker, each year in Israel, November 30 is set aside to commemorate the plight of the more than one million Jews who were driven from their homes across the Middle East as a result of religious persecution between the 1940s and 1970s.

Following the establishment of the state of Israel, anti-Jewish sentiment and systemic violence dramatically increased, forcing far too many families to flee their homes.

I am proud to share with the House that B'nai Brith Canada, along with several community partners, has launched a week-long campaign to remind us of the suffering of these Jewish refugees, and is looking to mark November 30 in Canada officially to honour them.

Today is November 30. With the stories and memories of Jewish refugees in our thoughts, I can assure the Jewish community of this: I, and my colleagues, will not tolerate, in fact, we will fight against, anti-Semitism in all of its forms, here in Canada and abroad.

Mr. Speaker, on November 18, 2016, history was made on Canadian television. Ginella Massa became the first hijab-wearing Muslim to anchor a major television newscast in Canada.

CityNews Toronto gave Ginella the 11 p.m. broadcast time and soon after the world was tuning in. During a time of rising anti-Muslim rhetoric, and discrimination against women and minorities, this is an incredible achievement not only for Muslims, but for all Canadians. She was also the first hijab-wearing television journalist in 2015. As an immigrant from Panama, this story is as Canadian as it gets.

Ginella is a shining example of how amazing our country is and how everyone here has the opportunity to succeed in any field they desire.

Mr. Speaker, indigenous women in this country carry a heavy burden on their backs beginning as children.

Countless families experience intergenerational traumatization. Indigenous women are three to five times more likely to experience violence than non-indigenous women. This traumatization is often explained as the root causes of violence. Alcohol, suicide, abuse, and victims of violence are symptoms of this underlying traumatization. The Auditor General reported his concern regarding overrepresentation of indigenous women in federal penitentiaries. Acts of violence are often committed by individuals for whom violence has become normalized, having themselves been victimized in childhood.

In northern Saskatchewan there are sparse options for access to shelters and limited support for victims and abusers. Individuals end up further entrenched in the cycle of abuse and poverty.

I call upon the government to urgently address these matters. We must act now.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today to mark the passing of Saskatchewan Party MLA, Roger Parent at age 63. Only yesterday, it was announced that Roger had been diagnosed with cancer, then literally just hours later, Roger passed away at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon.

Roger had been an MLA since 2011. Before his election, he had long been an advocate for aboriginal and poverty issues in and around Saskatoon. He had been involved with the Saskatoon Homelessness Initiative, the Saskatoon aboriginal economic development committee, the Saskatchewan committee on aboriginal procurement, and the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan.

His contributions to the community and to the lives of individual people were many. Needless to say, his passing comes as a complete shock to the people of Saskatchewan, particularly to those who knew him well and who loved him.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Sheila, the entire Parent family, and his many friends throughout Saskatchewan to whom we offer our most sincere condolences and sympathies.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to speak about London, Ontario, the city I have the honour of representing in this great House.

London is the birthplace of insulin, our researchers are behind a potential HIV vaccine that is going through the clinical trials process, and many firsts in health care have happened at our world-class hospitals and research facilities.

The list continues.

Whether it is making doors for the White House at the Harring Doors factory; providing social and entertainment news through Diply.com, which is the fastest-growing website in Internet history; or producing 77,000 frozen pizzas a day at Dr. Oetker's North American facility, London has us covered.

London is home to the Labatt Brewery, producing more than one billion cans and bottles of product a year; the makers of 3M products, including duct tape; and the manufacturers of Billy Bee honey.

It gets better. Did I mention every single Chicken McNugget in Canada is made at Cargill?

Mr. Speaker, when he rejected the northern gateway pipeline, the Prime Minister robbed 31 aboriginal communities and the people who live in them an opportunity for a better life. These first nations stood to benefit directly from almost $2 billion in job-creation agreements that would have built desperately needed housing and schools while employing thousands of young aboriginal Canadians.

The Prime Minister had a choice to proceed with more aboriginal consultations and find a way to get to yes for this project. Can the Prime Minister explain why he is taking away hope and opportunity for these first nations?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday's announcement demonstrated that in one year we were able to do what 10 years of the previous government was unable to do.

We were elected on the solemn commitment to both grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time, and that is exactly what we have done. By doing this, by demonstrating that we have listened to Canadians, that we understand their concerns about jobs and about the future but also about protecting the environment for generations to come, we acted in a way that was consistent with what Canadians have been asking for.

Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister did yesterday was deny hope and opportunity to thousands of young aboriginal Canadians. The Prime Minister had a choice. He had a choice, but he made a political decision at their expense to take gateway off the table, even as an option to move our resources when we need as many options as we can get.

The 31 first nations and Métis equity partners in gateway have said that they are shocked and disappointed at his decision. They wanted to see consultations continue.

How can the Prime Minister justify killing good jobs for young aboriginal Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is the party opposite has never understood that the way to build a strong future is by both protecting the environment and creating good jobs. The fact that the Conservatives have never understood that those two things go together is why they are flailing about for things to say today. We got done what they were unable to do for 10 years.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a year, and under the Prime Minister's watch not a single new full-time job has been created in our country, and it is about to get a lot worse with the election of Donald Trump. Canadian families are worried that the Prime Minister does not have a plan to deal with the new U.S. administration. While the Prime Minister raises taxes on Canadians, the Americans are planning to cut taxes by more than half. What is the Prime Minister's plan to ensure that good jobs do not move to the United States?

Mr. Speaker, for one, the announcement we made yesterday will ensure that our natural resources will be able to reach markets overseas. The fact that we can now diversify to a greater degree and reduce our dependence on the U.S. market is a key thing. However, as always, we will engage in constructive ways with the incoming American administration to protect Canadian jobs, to uphold our interests, and to demonstrate that we are the party that is working seriously to grow the economy, and create good middle-class jobs and a better future for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, a press conference does not build a pipeline. All the Prime Minister did yesterday was approve a pipeline. Now the difficult work begins, and the very people who oppose this pipeline are his supporters and the people who helped him get elected.

Therefore, my question to the Prime Minister is this. When is he going to go out to British Columbia and convince the very people who oppose this pipeline to get on board?